


for anyone to see

by witchy_country616



Category: The Royals (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, Gen, LIam's POV, Season 4 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-27 15:39:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12585108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchy_country616/pseuds/witchy_country616
Summary: Tumblr prompt: "Liam was the first to realize that Willow had fallen out of love with him and in love with Robert." Major spoilers for season 4.





	for anyone to see

Despite all the rumors, tabloid covers and pictures of the two of them together, Liam didn’t believe it to be anything serious until they had publicly announced their engagement. Nothing had seemed stranger than the idea of Robert and Willow together. And yet, here he was now, getting ready for their engagement party. He sighed deeply in front of the mirror, adjusting his tie. He had tried to get out of it, but his mom had made clear his presence was mandatory. That and Cyrus had thought it would be better to appear united in front of the public, in the hopes Robert would relax and let his guard down when they finally decided to strike.

“Don’t you look handsome,” Kathryn commented upon entering their room and breaking him out of his reverie. “Are you sure you want to go?” She asked more seriously, a worried frown coming over her face.

“According to my mother, I don’t seem to have much of a choice.” He gave himself one last look in the mirror and turned towards her, “How are you doing? It must hurt hearing all about his engagement on the news after the way he treated you.”

Kathryn nodded, casting her eyes down. “I wish I was over everything, you know? But I never knew he could be so cruel…” She looked up and stared him in the eye. “Know what’s funny though? I feel more sorry for her than for me. It cannot be easy being married to a man like that.”

Liam agreed, “No, it cannot be.” And, silently, he promised himself, _I’m gonna do whatever it takes to stop Willow from making this mistake._ “I should get going. Can’t be late for the big party.” He gave her a peck on the corner of the mouth, “Have a good night. I’ll be back soon.”

+++

Eleanor caught him at the entrance of the party before he had the chance to talk to anyone else.

“My, my, looks who is here. Mom was already having a fit, thinking you had bailed on us.”

“Believe it or not, I am well aware of my responsibilities.” Liam answered shortly, taking a glass of champagne from one of the waiters and drowning it at once.

“Hey. No need to get mad at me. I wouldn’t want to be here either.” She said, throwing a bored look around the room, full of the finest, oldest and most boring members of British aristocracy.

Liam looked at her puzzled, “But I thought you liked Willow and were happy for them.”

Eleanor let out a non-committal noise that he had trouble interpreting. “I do like Willow…or at least, I used to. But I can’t ignore the fact that less than six months ago she was making moon eyes at my other brother…” she childishly pointed at Liam, as if he wouldn’t know she was talking about him, “and now that Robert is king, she is conveniently around and in love with him. Something seems fishy to me.”

Liam let out a chuckle, “you trying to imply Willow is a gold digger? Len, trust me, Willow is the last person who would marry Robert because of his title. She would be incapable of that. Besides, her and I, we never had anything.”

“But you don’t deny she used to be in love with you. Maybe still is.” She added perspicaciously and Liam remained silent. “I told him that, you know? Can you guess what he said?” Eleanor cleared her throat and attempted to imitate Robert’s voice, “ _I appreciate your concern for me, Eleanor, but I am marrying Wilhelmina anyway._ That’s how he said it! Wilhelmina! Ugh, Robert can be such an annoying ass sometimes…” Seeing as Liam didn’t seem inclined to make any comment, she added in a more serious tone, “I don’t want you two involved with the same woman again. That never ends well.”

Liam sighed; taking another gulp from the champagne glass that had already been refilled by one of the staffs.

“Ugh, mom is coming. It’s your turn to deal with her. Gotta go.”

+++

“Liam! Finally!” His mom arrived just as Eleanor turned around the corner, making her quick exit. Queen Helena inspected his outfit from head to toe, giving a nod of approval and only then embracing him. “I feel like it’s been ages since you last came home.”

Liam felt like saying _because of your dear King Robert_ , but he held his tongue. It wouldn’t be good to start the night arguing.

“Isn’t everything perfect? I have to admit, this engagement came as a total surprise. For a moment, I actually thought he was going to marry that commoner he was seeing… A couple of dates, and the media were already calling her Cinderella. Ugh. No, Willow is a much more appropriate choice. Thank God he came to his senses.”

Like always, his mom had the habit of pushing all his buttons. “Is it all that matters? How appropriate she is? How about love?”

“Don’t be naive, Liam. A marriage can build or destroy a kingdom. You need someone who knows the rules, who will stand beside you and act properly, as I did with your father. I wasn’t a perfect wife, I am well aware of that, but we had some good years together. And, more importantly, we were a team.”

“Another marriage of convenience. Perfect.” He commented bitterly.

“There is nothing wrong with that. You don’t understand it, but Willow and Robert do. They know what it takes to run an empire.” Helena let out a satisfied sigh. “I knew it was the right move to hire her. Of course, back then I was hopping she would help me make you king, but it all worked for the best, I suppose…” She stopped for a moment, her eyes fixed at the distance and Liam followed her gaze to where a group man was cheering loudly at the bride, who had just come in. “Of course, nothing is perfect. We might have to do something about these Argentinean relatives. Can you believe one of her uncles fought in the Falklands War?” Helena shuddered in horror. “And the other day, I heard her call it the Malvinas instead of Falklands.”

“She was raised in Argentina, so it’s a common mistake.”

“She will be the next queen of England, she can’t make these type of mistakes. Who knows, she says something and we can have another war in our hands.”

Liam let out a chuckle of disbelief and Helena looked at him angrily. “Don’t believe me. Fine. I have to go and make sure we don’t have another international crisis.”

+++

Jasper arrived next to talk to him.

“I thought you would be all busy tonight taking care of the king’s security.” Liam commented as a hello and Jasper rolled his eyes at him.

“The place is surrounded by agents and bodyguards. He is more protected than Fort Knox; trust me. Plus, his majesty is getting ready with the help of his best man. I figured it would be better to leave them alone.”

Remembering the rocky - to say the least - history between Jasper and Beck, Liam was inclined to agree that it had been the wisest decision. “Then stay with me. This whole engagement party feels like a bad dream I’m hoping to wake up from at any moment.”

“Why? Because you and her used to date?” Jasper asked curiously, waiting for his reaction.

Liam looked back at him startled. Jasper had been the second person tonight to treat him and Willow as an item and he felt a pang in his chest. He couldn’t deny they had been something, or better put, the _beginning_ of something between then. It could even have been great, if he had allowed it to. But, of course, Kathryn re-entered the picture and he had forgotten all about Willow.

“We never dated. Never even kissed.” Jasper raised one of eyebrows, skeptical, and Liam confirmed. “I swear. Nothing happened.”

“That’s probably for the best.”

“It was.” He agreed half-heartedly, in a manner that didn’t even convince himself. “It just doesn’t seem like Willow, you know? I never thought Robert could manipulate her like that.”

“Is that what you think happened?”

“What do you think?”

Jasper shrugged his shoulders. “She seems too smart to be manipulated.” He declared, just as Robert arrived and took Willow to the center of the room.

There were cheers and applauses as they made their way holding hands, and Liam couldn’t help but notice they made a handsome couple, despite everything. Robert waited until the noise died down and started his speech.

“My fiancé and I would like to thank you all for coming. And I know this might have seem sudden to some of you, but from the moment I met her and she sorted me into Gryffindor and told me she was a Ravenclaw, I knew she was the one.” Willow let out a small chuckle, Liam noticed, and it was clear there was more to the story than what Robert was telling the audience, but she didn’t interrupted him. “She was more than I could ever hope for and I know that, as you get to know her as I do, you will fall in love with her as well.” He placed a kiss on top of her hand and the guests cheered again. “Enjoy the party, everyone!” He ended the speech quickly, and him and Willow moved aside, talking to each other in whispers.

She didn’t say anything to the public and Liam found that odd. Had Robert already taken complete control of her?

+++

Jasper left shortly after, saying he had to coordinate security and excusing himself. And Liam was left alone to observe Robert and Willow as they made their way amongst the guests together, complimenting everyone and thanking them for coming. They seemed very in tune with each other, smiling often, whispering in each other’s ears and always touching. If it was all an act, like his mother and sister supposed, it was a very good one. Liam, however, was beginning to have his doubts.

When they finally got close to where he was, Robert smartly made his way to another group and Willow approached Liam alone.

She hugged him quickly and Liam remembered how she had always been able to lift him up with the smallest of gestures. There was just something about Willow that was incredibly comforting, like coming back home.

He swallowed hard and tried to disperse these thoughts. “Hey, it’s good to see you.”

“I could say the same!” She answered chirpily. “It’s been so long. Robert bet with me that you wouldn’t come, but I knew you would. I am so happy you came! He is too, in his own way… He just…didn’t know if you would want to talk to him.” She added in a low voice, making sure no one could over hear them.

“It’s probably for the best if we talk later.” He agreed, relieved that he would be able to talk to Willow just the two of them, without his brother’s overbearing presence. “I think congratulations are in order, even if…”

“Even if…?”

“Even if I think this is a bad idea.”

Willow sighed, exasperated. “Not again. I thought you coming here meant you were okay with us getting married. But I guess it’s too much to ask for my friend to be happy for me.”

“It’s exactly because I am your friend that I can’t be happy with this! Can’t you see he is just using you?”

“Using me?”

“He obviously manipulated you into this marriage.” At her angry face, Liam tried to appease her, “I know this is hard to hear, Willow, but Robert is not who you think he is.” He paused for a moment while she stared at him expectantly. “He could have come home earlier, but he stayed on the island for months alone, if that’s even where he was… There’s also Kathryn, he used her for months, lied to her, then broke up with her for no reason…”

She let out a chuckle, stopping Liam’s speech. “Why don’t you try telling me something I don’t know?”

“You mean…you know about all of this? And you are still willing to marry him, why? Is it like mom said, just a marriage of convenience? Are you this crazy over power that you would do anything to be queen?”

Her eyes hardened and he immediately regretted his words. “You are lucky we are in public and I won’t cause a scandal by hitting you, even though it’s what you deserve. And, no, it’s not an arranged marriage. But I’m not surprised that your mom thinks it is, Queen Helena wouldn’t understand a _real marriage_ even if it hit her in the face.”

She looked him right in the eye and he considered exactly what she was (and wasn’t) saying. “Are you saying it’s a real marriage? That, what, you love him? Despite everything I just told you?”

“You wouldn’t understand what it’s like between us. There are no secrets. There is nothing you could say that would make me change my mind.” She paused, turning to look at Robert’s direction before adding, “And yes, I love him and he loves me. If you excuse me, I need to go back to my fiancé.”

Liam watched speechless as Willow turned away from him and walked towards Robert. Her hand touched his arm and he immediately turned towards her. There must have been something on her face that showed how distressed she was by their talk, because the king quickly ended his conversation and took her aside. He saw as Robert caressed her face gently and reached down to kiss her in the mouth. He noticed how Willow relaxed in his presence, as if he had taken a load of her shoulders. And he couldn’t deny it anymore.

Despite what everyone had said, it had been right in front of them all along, just waiting for them to see, Willow loved Robert and his brother loved her as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I hope you liked and, if you can, please take the time to give kudos or comment, because they make my day. <33


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